Flyler

Thanks for the information, Mr. Lebowski. This is very useful for me. My (hopefully) plane is in pre-buy inspection at Don Maxwell's now. I have heard Bob Cabe's name mentioned before and might reach out to him to see if he is willing to make the long trip TX-CT with me.

That's a wild ride! I was at Jake's shop in Daytona a few weeks back. Frank popped in and we were chatting about the 201 that I was having a Prebuy Inspection done on. I didn't end up buying that plane. Frank said something like "well you're a bit late, I just sold a really nice one." He pointed outside to the Mooney you just flew home. That bird is a really nice specimen!

I stopped by today to see the plane in person, at the famed Maxwell shop. After seeing more Mooneys in one place than I've ever seen before, and seeing the Maxwell shop, I asked them if they could do the Pre-buy. I'm no expert, and have not seen everything, but after meeting Don and Paul and seeing the planes in their shop, and just the general atmosphere.. I think I would be nuts to take it anywhere else!

IIRC in my converstaion with Jimmy, they would perform it if asked but he suggests I find a true third party source. It's sound advice. I'm visiting the plane on Monday to get eyes on it. I'll try to pop in to Don's shop to see if I can get a handshake from him while I'm there. I made a mistake in location as well- the plane is at KGGG and not Spring Branch. "It's still in Texas, it can't be that far away" the silly thoughts of a CT native...

Thank you sir! Regarding Dugosh, when I called they stated that they do not do Prebuys anymore. Brian Kendrick is too busy (that's a good sign). There are a few names left here that I have not reached out to yet, which I plan to do tomorrow. I might give Mr. Kendrick another post, perhaps I reached him at a particularly swamped time and can get some of his valuable time.

Thank you. In case it is helpful for others who search later on, I was also recommended Keith Kehoe of KNK Aviation. He's a Mooney owner as well.

Yep, that's the only reason I wouldn't call Don first. Jimmy is straight forward there as well- he trusts Don through and through but there's a conflict of interest there.

Hello my fellow Mooney cohorts, Hopefully this is the last Mooney hunt I need to perform. I've become a bit battle hardened in my search for a Mooney and finally said "why don't I just listen to the half dozen people who have recommended Jimmy and give him a call?" Looks like I should've acted on that sooner. Can someone recommend a Mooney-familiar who could do a prebuy near GMAX in Spring Branch TX?

This is GREAT!! I prefer GP to ForeFlight, but the biggest downside for me has been lack of webapp. Badabing, here we go!

You've looked under, have you looked above? If the pivot point "2" were to lower somehow, either by wear or loose bolt, perhaps the link would drop low enough to contact and interfere.

When copying the plans, they accidentally put the tail on backwards, thereby cancelling out the fact that the plans accidentally had the tail on backwards. The rest is history...

Guys I believe this falls under the jurisdiction of the US Coast guard, the FAA deals with air- not submersible craft.

That happened to me, not too long after touch down. The mechanism that moves the gear up and down is designed to do so while the airplane is in the air. It can handle the weight of the gear and the air drag, but not the weight of the plane. Once the gear is down and "locked" it is the over center linkage at each individual wheel that handles the weight of the plane. If one of those wheels isn't "locked", now you have a problem. Depending on the circumstances it can cause the other two to unlock. If the plane is sitting still or moving slowly, it's unlikely that the linkage can collapse both mains as it would have to lift the weight of the plane up first to do so. I forgot to note - gear collapsed tend to happen near your birthday. Don't fly your Mooney on or around your birthday.

Thanks everyone! Multiple posts here and a few DM's too. This forum is so great.

I got all excited about a Canadian 201 that didn't pan out. N201Q was available so I paid the $10 or $15 to reserve it. Anyone want it? Might fit well on your 201, or it would be a great upgrade for a pre-J model to get some extra speed

Potentially looking at a Mooney out in San Martin, CA. I'm on the East Coast so its a haul for me. Can anyone recommend a Mooney pro that could do a prebuy inspection out in that neck of the woods? Takair recommended LASAR and Top Gun. LASAR said yes but I forgot they had moved to Oregon, which is far away. Top Gun seems to be very booked. Perhaps someone who could travel to the current hangar and give it a few hours of time for a "go or no go" before having it flown to an MSC. Appreciate any suggestions or input!

Thanks for posting this, I'm going to go cry myself to sleep now.

Thank you, your example solved the riddle for me. I got hung up on the trailing numbers being static in the search. Now it makes a lot more sense.

I'm guessing one of you fine gentlemen has run into this before. https://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/Search/NNumberAvailabilityInquiry?error=Starting Range and Ending Range fields must not be empty. FAA has a website where you can look up tail number availability. I can't seem to figure out what to enter into the fields. It gives me an error every time. For example, how would I find tail numbers that include "201" like all thoes original numbers that Mooney registered back in the day?

It is beautiful, but I don't think the seller would be willing to make a $120,000 concession

This one is actually on my list already! Thank you sir.

I flew in an M20E with auto lean. Really slick system.

Hello folks, Doing my due diligence while looking for a new Mooney. I'm interested in one that was cared for by Leggat Aviation in Ontario Canada for many years. Has anyone had any experiences, good or bad, with this outfit? I would be interested to hear about it.

I'm sending out some feelers wherever I can! I am back in the market and hoping to be in the air by the spring/summer. I'm located in CT, USA and this is what I am looking for: M20E, F, or magically a J model. Insurance is going to limit me to under $100k, and closer to $80k would be a lot better. Wants: Something that has been flying and not sitting, engine under 1500hr. Paint that'll at least last me another few years. An autopilot with alt hold (like STEC20, Century III, etc.) Mechanically sound Must be open to having a prebuy done I am an absolute sucker for 201 windscreens and fancy cowls.... I would rather have a plane in great mechanical condition that could use a little interior and avionics loving than the reverse. Please feel free to post or DM if you are thinking of selling or have any hot leads!

This is beautiful.